Bundesliga Preview: Hannover – Hamburg

CelticKing · Oct 31, 2008

Bundesliga Preview: Hannover – Hamburg

VS

What: Bundesliga Round 11
Who: Hannover (14th) vs. Hamburg (3rd)
When: Saturday 1st November 2008, 15:30 (CET)
Where: AWD Arena, Hannover

Following mixed fortunes in midweek, Hannover and Hamburg meet on Saturday at the AWD Arena. Three points are vitally important for both sides. One is chasing the top spot, while the other is trying to avoid the bottom.

Relegation Fears Replace Uefa Cup Hopes

“The league table is quite clear- we are in a relegation fight at the moment” explained Hannover chairman Martin Kind.

Hannover’s midweek defeat to Hertha Berlin saw them slip to 14th in the table just three points above Energie Cottbus, who are currently bottom. The Niedersachsen team have won just twice in ten games (one against Bayern) and have suffered five defeats.

“We were not as bad as the scoreline suggests” trainer Dieter Hecking has said. “The team were not rewarded for the effort they put into the game.” Sporting director Christian Hochstätter added: “We played well for 65 minutes away from home. But that doesn’t help us. We are in a relegation fight and we need to work hard to get out of this mess.”

Hannover need to start winning and quickly. Following the visit of Hamburg they have ‘winnable’ games against Frankfurt, Bochum and Köln, but defeat to Hamburg would make those fixtures a little trickier.

Hannover will be fully aware of what happened to Nürnberg last season as an example of what they need to be wary of. Last season the German Cup holders Nürnberg were relegated from the Bundesliga.

“We will not underestimate the task in hand” explained Hochstätter. “In recent times we’ve seen a few cases of teams saying ‘We’re too good to go down and then things have gone wrong.”

Two main problems have been affecting Hannover this season. First of all the team hasn’t found it’s natural rhythm yet, while secondly key players have been out injured. Robert Enke in goal was injured on international duty and the defence has been missing Ismael and Eggimann for periods this season.

Trainer Dieter Hecking has rarely been able too field a stable line-up and the constant changes to the back line have seen large defeats to Schalke (3-0), Leverkusen (4-0) and Hoffenheim (5-2).

So the pressure is growing on Hannover to get a win this weekend, but they face a tough task in the visit of Martin Jol’s Hamburg.

Hoffenheim Forgotten

Last Sunday’s mauling at Hoffenheim will have hurt Hamburg and not just because of the defeat and the scoreline. Hoffenheim absolutely destroyed HSV last weekend so the pressure was on them in midweek to produce a response.

They did that with a 2-0 home win over VfB Stuttgart at the HSH Nordbank Arena to keep themselves in contention at the top of the table with just two points separating them from table toppers Hamburg and with Bayer Leverkusen just a single point ahead of them.

Another three points this weekend are a must therefore if the Rothosen are to maintain contact or even improve on their current position.

“Every game gives us the chance to stay up at the top” trainer Martin Jol explained at the pre-match press conference. “Therefore we need to take the necessary three points from Hannover.”

The fact that Hannover are currently not enjoying the best of times doesn’t give HSV any great advantage according to Jol. “They have a very good side. We showed more consistency in the last game, but every game in the Bundesliga is tight” he added.

FORM GUIDE

Hannover

29/10/08 v Hertha Berlin (a) LOST 3-0 (Bundesliga)

25/10/08 v Werder Bremen (h) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)

18/10/08 v 1899 Hoffenheim (h) LOST 2-5 (Bundesliga)

05/10/08 v Borussia Dortmund (a) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)

27/09/08 v Bayern Munich (h) WON 1-0 (Bundesliga)

23/09/08 v Schalke (a) LOST 2-0 (DFB Pokal)

Hamburg

29/10/08 v VfB Stuttgart (h) WON 2-0 (Bundesliga)

26/10/08 v 1899 Hoffenheim (a) LOST 3-0 (Bundesliga)

23/10/08 v MSK Zilina (a) WON 1-2 (Uefa Cup)

19/10/08 v Schalke (h) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)

05/10/08 v Energie Cottbus (a) WON 1-2 (Bundesliga)

02/10/08 v FC Unirea Urziceni (a) WON 0-2 (Uefa Cup)

Head to head record in Hannover:

11/08/07 Hannover 0 Hamburg 1

17/03/07 Hannover 0 Hamburg 0

08/02/06 Hannover 2 Hamburg 1

14/05/05 Hannover 2 Hamburg 1

01/02/04 Hannover 3 Hamburg 2

TEAM NEWS

Hannover

Injuries continue to plague Dieter Hecking. Defender Valerien Ismael misses out once more, while Frank Fahrenhorst is a doubt after suffering an injury during the midweek loss to Hertha. Fellow defenders Vinicius and Mario Eggimann also look set to sit this one out.

The crisis means that Hanno Balitsch will once again be drafted into the centre of defence as he was in midweek. Youngster Johannes Ibelherr may be set for his Bundesliga debut. Florian Fromlowitz will continue to deputise in goal for Robert Enke. Arnold Bruggink is out due to suspension.

Probable starting XI: Fromlowitz, Cherundolo, Balitsch, Fahrenhorst, Rausch, Lala, C.Schulz, Krebs, Pinto, Huszti, Forssell

Hamburg

There were no new injury concerns for Martin Jol following Wednesday’s win over Stuttgart. Alex Silva filled in impressively for the injured Nigel de Jong in midfield and will continue there, meaning Dennis Aogo will keep his place.

Marcell Jansen is still on the comeback trail and could be fit for next weekend.

Probable starting XI: Rost, Demel, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Aogo, Jarolim, Alex Silva, Trochowski, Olic, Guerrero, Petric

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Hannover- Altin Lala

With the defence severely weakened, a lot of responsibility will fall on the midfield to shield the back line. Altin Lala should have a vital role to play with his combative style and should have a busy afternoon on his hands.

Hamburg- Ivica Olic

The Croatian will no doubt be full of running as usual and will be looking to exploit any space or weakness shown by an under-strength Hannover defence. His runs will set up the chances for compatriot Petric and Peruvian Paolo Guerrero to fire the goals that could see Hamburg go top.
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Bundesliga Preview: Hannover – Hamburg

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